Tornado drill set for Tuesday in Virginia

It’s the commonwealth’s annual tornado drill. It begins with a test tornado warning, sent by the National Weather Service to weather alert radios. Then radio and TV stations and cable providers will activate their Emergency Alert Systems which relay the test warning to listeners and viewers.

The Statewide Tornado Drill is a yearly opportunity to prepare Virginians for tornado emergencies and to test public warning systems.

“Tornadoes can occur any month of the year, and Virginia averages 16 tornadoes each year,” says Bill Sammler of the National Weather Service. “When a tornado watch is issued for your area, know where to seek safe shelter should a tornado warning be issued.”

It was just a little over a year ago, on Feb. 24, 2016, that Virginia was hit by the deadliest tornado event since 1959. An EF-1 tornado touched down on the Town of Waverly in Sussex County, an EF-3 tornado affected Appomattox County, and another EF-3 tornado hit the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck region. Five people were killed and another 45 were hurt.

You can show your support by registering for the tornado drill. In recent years, 1 million Virginians have signed up.

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About the Author

Ed Tobias brings more than four decades of reporting and news management experience to his work at FairfaxNews. Tobias managed news coverage for Associated Press Radio for over twenty years. This included coverage of the 9/11 attacks, the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, the death of Princess Diana, the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters and national election primaries, conventions and campaigns. He was part of the team that built AP’s on-line video operation. Prior to joining AP, Tobias was News Director at all-news WTOP in Washington, D.C.
He has won two Ohio State Awards for his reporting and producing and he led coverage that won an Edward R. Murrow Award.